Patent · US Expired

Apparatus and method for using storage domains for controlling data in storage area networks

US7222176B1 · kind B1 · utility

33Cited by
24References
31Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 28, 2000
Grant dateMay 22, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 12, 2021

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F3/067
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A Storage Domain architecture in which a pool of storage devices is controlled by one or a plurality of Storage Domain Servers (SDS) and create a single, compatible, enterprise wide, storage resource pool that appears to the system as a gigantic shared disk drive. These storage devices may be connected to the Storage Domain Server directly via SCSI enclosures attached to the server, across a private Fiber Channel (FC) network, and/or across a public SAN fabric via switches and hubs. The Storage Domain Server logically maps physical storage data on individual storage devices to logical storage data and presents to each host the storage resources allocated to that host by the storage administrator within the Storage Domain. Data stored in the system is available to all authorized hosts and protected against unauthorized access. Storage Domain Servers control all storage devices directly attached to them or scattered in the FC network, and present a consolidated view of that available storage to hosts. The storage resource pool is divisible into multiple and secured “virtual and logical data volumes” that match the requirements of individual hosts. The volumes are allocated to the app…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.